Jazzbanks
by xBlackLuckx
Summary: Naruto&co are on a jazzband trip that causes Naruto and Sasuke to exercise their points of authority. Bad summary, good read. Sasunaru, ShinoKiba, NejiShika.
1. Yup, he's found his happy place

Sup, my fanfiction buddies? You've fallen upon Jazzbanks.

Summaryish thing: Allright, the gang is going on a band trip, a jazzband trip. It'll be fun, wild, and probably shonenai tastic for the ones who like it. Sasunaru, with bits of Shino/Kiba (or Kiba/Shino, whatever :P) and Neji/Shika.

Feel free to read and rate, I love to hear from people, it makes everything so much more worth it.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, sadly, I can't make the Naruto characters do everything I'd like in real life. We'll have to leave that duty upon Masashi Kishimoto.

Note: textjust normal text..lol. _text_thoughts

* * *

Fairbanks. Fairbanks, Alaska. The Festival. The Jazz Festival. The UAF Jazz Festival. …..-Jazzbanks.

Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm clock, knocking him out of dreamland and into his own tangible reality. That reality being, waking up, getting the rest of his bags packed, and heading off to school. After second period, he would be loading up the bus with the rest of the Konoha Jazz Band, and then make their seven hour ride up to Fairbanks. Naruto untangled his legs from his single sheet he slept with, and managed to grope his way out of bed and into his bathroom for a shower. This could mean anything, and yet nothing all at once.

After Naruto was done making sure he wouldn't kill the rest of the world with his odor, he slipped into the clothes that he _hadn't _packed, and rushed downstairs. He measured his time, and decided that he wouldn't have any time to have breakfast, but that didn't matter too much, considering the road-trip. Naruto couldn't take everything he had onto the bus, so he started walking.

Halfway to Konoha High, a familiar looking green pick up truck pulled over onto the side of the road in front of Naruto. The truck started honking, so Naruto walked over to it, relieved to see familiar faces. Inside, was Lee, with his two exchange student brothers, Gaara and Kankuro, from Sabure(1) High. All three of them were in the jazz band also, meaning the back of the truck was filled with a variety of bags and suitcases.

"Hey, just put your stuff with the rest and hop in.", said Lee. Naruto did as he was told and managed to squeeze himself into the already filled truck.

"Hey", said Gaara, and Kankuro acknowledged Naruto with nod and a small smile. Lee then 'put the pedal to the metal' _or was it 'metal to the pedal?', _Naruto wondered, and pulled back onto the main road. The car was awkwardly quiet for about ten seconds, until Lee decided to start talking about the trip. –And his excitement for it.

"I wonder what it's going to be like up in Fairbanks, and what we're going to do.", Lee went on. –No, really, he went on. Naruto looked over at Gaara, who was nearest to Lee. He didn't seem to be listening, and was more out of it than there. Naruto then looked at Kankuro, who looked like he was trying to find his happy place. A couple seconds passed, adding a glazed look to Kankuro's eyes. _Yup, he's found his happy place. _With the least offense to Lee as he could gesture, Naruto decided to follow suite to the other's actions in the truck, and let himself be lost within thought.

_So…what should I think about? Maybe the trip. Yeah, the trip. What do I know about it?_ Naruto thought back. He hadn't gone last year, but he had heard from upperclassmen that it was always a blast. Naruto pictured all of the people that had gone on the trip last year. _Well, it IS the band. _He couldn't see why it _wouldn't _be fun. Kakashi, their director, was enough of an example right then and there. The guy was the most laid back adult Naruto had ever met, except when it came to band. That was business. Other than that, Naruto was almost 100 sure that they could get away with anything. _Anything. What will that mean? _

Having stopped at a stoplight, ((a/n: Imagine that, _stopping _at a _stop_light.))Naruto looked out of the window, staring at their town's local supermarket- like store. It had, well, _everything. _Everything that a small town would need, at least. It was so small in fact, that Konoha High was the only high school that was needed -and existed. It was a small school, but most of the small population of students were talented in different areas. It was a small town with a fairly large reputation. Their Jazz Band had always excelled in the past, and were one of the most talked of bands around.- Jazz or not. Part of the jazz fest was an inter-band competition, earning the ultimate honor to whichever school grasped it. Konoha High was almost sure, the same way that Naruto was almost sure he could get away with anything, that they would win this year.

The light turned green, and Naruto was torn away from the prior buildings that he had been gazing upon. Buildings, people, and his well known scenery passed by, or more of _he _passed by, and soon enough the group of 'bandaids'(2) found themselves in the parking lot of Konoha High. They got out of the car, managed to load all of their accessories into their arms and onto their backs, and made their way to the band room inside of the school.

* * *

Once in the band room, they agreeably dropped all of their gear onto the pile that was already forming on the right side of the room. Pillows and blankies included. Since first period was Jazz band, Naruto looked around the room. Shino, Neji, and Chouji were already there, obviously bored. Chouji was eating his breakfast-_or maybe after breakfast-_Neji was lying on the ground attempting to sleep, and Shino was kicking it back in the corner with his shades on. _Exciting. _With the seven of them there, the only others that they were waiting for included Kakashi, Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru.

A couple minutes passed, bringing Shikamaru, and Kiba following. After adding his belongings to the pile, Shikamaru accompanied Neji in his quest to catch a couple more 'z's'. Kiba, obviously a morning person, found Kankuro and proceeded in starting a lively conversation. What about, Naruto didn't know. Lee and Gaara were both sitting against the back wall, and Naruto was basically…standing there waiting for something to happen. Yet a couple more minutes had been lived, and Sasuke waltzed in. (Ok, he more of strode in, but he's nonetheless there, right?) Sasuke dropped all but one item of his paraphernalia into the pile that was rapidly becoming an abyss. This item, of course, Naruto realized, was _his guitar. _

Sasuke set down his case, brought out his guitar, and continued to do what he did every day, -practice. Sasuke was beyond the best guitar player in school, yet practiced every day like a madman. Many local bands had invited him to join, but the only form of music he ever had an interest in was jazz. This confused, and even annoyed many people, but Naruto knew why Sasuke was so immersed in jazz. –And only jazz. His brother Itachi had been in the jazz band at Konoha years ago, and had made himself a name to last years after. –Playing guitar. This guy was a god of guitar, Naruto had heard his playing, himself. For reasons unknown, Itachi had suddenly dropped out of high school in his second year, and then went on to play in a well known jazz combo out of town. For reasons even Naruto couldn't fully figure out, Sasuke strived to his greatest lengths to surpass his brother.

Although good friends, and completely different instruments, Sasuke and Naruto seemed to constantly compete for the spotlight in the band. Sasuke on guitar, and Naruto on trumpet. When solo time came around, no one was more willing than the two of them to farm it out. –No one could beat them, either. Some called it enthusiasm, others called it rivalry, but the truth was that they fed off of each other to grow musically.

The bell rang, and although everyone else in the school was hurrying their way into various classes and quieting down, the band room remained the same state that it was seconds before. _Wait, no, Kiba's laughing now. _Minutes more passed, being spent the same way as the moments prior. Kiba socialized, Neji and Shikamaru laid there, Shino shifted his position, Chouji ate yet more, and Gaara and Lee did whatever it is that they did. And Naruto too continued to do what he had done before,-listening to Sasuke free play whatever he felt like.

It was twenty minutes after the bell when Kakashi finally walked into the room. Normally, people would wonder where their teacher was, but this was _band. _And _Kakashi._ After a period of time, one comes to expect things that happen often, and their band director being tardy was one of these things. Since Friday was a day that had all of the periods, the class was short. They spent the rest of the period basically continuing what they had been doing before. This being absolutely nothing for some, and everything for others. Naruto continued listening to Sasuke, somewhere in between the two.

* * *

After Jazz Band, Naruto made his way with Sasuke and Neji to Art II. Art was another thing that Naruto was skilled it, and he felt relieved to be going to the class after spending all of the last period doing practically nothing. They had been doing mostly watercolor painting that quarter, and were working on different individual pieces that month. Naruto was working on a picture featuring a guy about his age sitting in a corner with his headphones on, listening to music. Naruto sat down and brought out his picture, halfway colored. He liked it so far. The background was dark, but the boy's clothes were bright and cheerful, almost optimistic. The reason he liked it, was because he felt it represented him in a way. He was comfortable with it.

Sasuke and Neji shared a table with Naruto, making for a good atmosphere.- The good atmosphere mostly being people that Naruto was familiar with being around. It was a bit of a quiet table, but it made for fruitful work. Naruto glanced over to his left, where Neji was filling in some trees on his lake scene. Neji mostly created these types of classic illustrations, all of them being peaceful. Naruto honestly thought that it was a bit boring, but never lacking talent. Naruto turned back to his character's shoes, only to have the nagging urge to glance at Sasuke's piece. _I promised myself I wouldn't look this time, though._ Sasuke always managed to create something phenomenal, and Naruto loved to catch him in the middle of his work, watching the creation take place. Sasuke's art was always edgy and detailed, never boring. _Sorry, Neji. _Naruto glanced out of the corner of his eye quickly, but even more quickly looked back down at the dirty shoes he was painting. _It'll be better if I just see it when it's done. _

_

* * *

After a seemingly long period of art, Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke made their way back to the band room. The room had even more energy than before. Everyone was either excited or anxious about the trip, and looking forward to the ride up to Fairbanks. Naruto recalled a past student telling him that the bus rides were 'rocking', too. Naruto looked at all of his band mates. Then he glanced at his bag that contained his sleeping bag and pillow. __I think I'm just going to sleep._ Kakashi had even gone through the lengths to get the best tour bus around for the band, so everyone would be comfortable and well spread out. Naruto yawned. _Yes, that's exactly what I'll do. _After a seemingly long period of art, Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke made their way back to the band room. The room had even more energy than before. Everyone was either excited or anxious about the trip, and looking forward to the ride up to Fairbanks. Naruto recalled a past student telling him that the bus rides were 'rocking', too. Naruto looked at all of his band mates. Then he glanced at his bag that contained his sleeping bag and pillow. Kakashi had even gone through the lengths to get the best tour bus around for the band, so everyone would be comfortable and well spread out. Naruto yawned. 

After a couple minutes of the main game plan, the band picked up their gear and started walking out of the school and towards the bus in the parking lot. Naruto, behind most of the group, opened the main door and bumped into the back of Chouji.

"Why is everyone just standing here?", Naruto asked Chouji.

Chouji shrugged and replied, "I think our bus isn't here yet."

From behind Naruto, Kakashi opened the door and stepped outside. Seeing everyone standing there, he asked the group the same question that Naruto had just inquired. "What's everyone doing just standing here?. The bus is over there." Kakashi pointed over to the far left, where a short bus was parked. Naruto looked past the bus. _Where's the big phatty tour bus? _Naruto looked all around the small bus, but didn't see any other vehicle.

Kiba interrupted the silence, asking what everyone else was wondering. "Kakashi, you don't mean, that we're…riding in that short thing over there, do you?"

Everyone looked over at Kakashi, whom just gave a slight nod, and pointed over to the bus. "Gear up, boys." Naruto kind of giggled inside about this comment. _Boys..ha, come to think of it, we really are only guys in this band..no girls…that's funny. _Naruto thought of the other girls that played instruments; Tenten, Sakura, and Ino. _Then again, they're in Symphonic Band. Nevermind. _

The _guys _(a/n giggle, sorry..i had to) picked up their bags, once again, and grudgingly headed over to the almost van-sized bus. Naruto followed suite, and was the first over to the bus. He searched for a latch that lifted up the door to the under storage rooms of the bus, but didn't find any. Naruto mentally cursed. _Shit._

"We've got a problem, guys. There isn't any under storage compartments." A mixture of curses and small comments were thrown around, once everyone had checked to make sure there really _wasn't _anywhere to put their stuff. Sasuke then got onto the bus, muttering something about seeing how much space they had. The rest of the group just stood there, knowing that their situation was progressively getting worse. Naruto sighed. _What next? _

Sasuke stepped off of the bus, looking a little worried. "There's seven seats on the bus, meaning that we will either use up two seats for luggage and have everyone share a seat, or put luggage in any spare place that we can, and have only three pairs seated together. By the way, before we make any decision, I've already claimed the last seat."

Naruto heard a bunch of groans, whether it was from the furthest seat back being claimed, or the decision that had to be made, he wasn't sure of. A couple minutes were used for pending the decision, and it was decided that they would have three seats with two people in them,(and four seats with one person) and stick the spare luggage wherever they could manage. _I have to be one of those four people. _

With the decision being made, everyone scrambled to make their way onto the bus. Naruto was the first on, and quickly sat in the next to last seat, in front of Sasuke's. It was moments after that action when he realized that he had to use the restroom. _Shoot. _Naruto quickly squeezed his way off of the bus, and ran back into the school to relieve himself.

Naruto walked back outside of the school. _Ah, that's better._ When he got back to the bus, he noticed that someone had left their bags outside of the bus door. _How careless. _He picked them up. _Wait a second, these are mine. _Naruto walked onto the bus, realizing that he had been booted out of his seat. He looked at the entirety of the bus and all of it's occupants. Chouji, Lee, Gaara, and Kankuro had sat in the upper half of the bus, so Naruto kept walking towards the back, hoping for a free seat. As he reached the back, he saw that Kiba, Shino, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke had occupied the other half of the bus. Kiba and Shino were sitting together, and Neji and Shikamaru had somehow found themselves together.

Realizing his options, Naruto just sat down next to Sasuke, who was staring out of the window with his ipod on. Sasuke gave Naruto a slight glare, and then went back to staring out of the window at the forest that was surrounding the school. Naruto sighed and set his bags on the ground in the aisle. _So much for sleeping, huh? _The bus started up, and the musicians made their way out of the driveway and onto the road to Fairbanks. Naruto crossed his arms and stared forward. _This is going to be a long, long ride._

* * *

(1) Sabure- Sabure means sand..so I figured it would fit.;)

(2) bandaids- Just another term for bandgeek. :P

Hey, its BlackLuck, back for more Naruto fan fic! Lol. For those who had been reading 'Why Is It Always The Rain?', thank you, and I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update it in forever. My computer had crashed, and we had to wipe all files, meaning that my almost finished update for it was deleted. I'll try to rewrite it sometime, but for right now, I'm focusing on this story..it'll be good, don't worry. - It's a fun idea, based on my real life stories and such, so it should be interesting. I'll try to update this often. Some of you must be thinking "eh,…..Naruto and BAND? –JAZZ BAND?" lol. Jazz Band kids are the wildest I know. It'll be great. 'til the next chapter, see you!

((Comment, pwz!))


	2. Lee's Poor Poor Pants

_A/N _Yesh, it's a bit short. Bear with me. R&R!

_58 mis-si-si-ppi, 59 mis-si-si-ppi, 60 mis-si-si-ppi. _Naruto uncrossed his arms and placed them behind his head. That made twenty minutes. Twenty minutes so far. Twenty minutes that were spent in silence. That was twenty minutes in the ride of four-hundred and twenty minutes in all. _Are we even on the main highway, yet?_ Naruto looked past Sasuke and out the window. _Barely._ He turned back to staring forward and crossing his arms. _I'm hungry, when's the pit stop?_

"Hey, Sasuke, when's our first stop?." Naruto waited for a reply. _Fine, be that way. _Naruto was about to reach over and poke Sasuke when he realized that he was still listening to music. _Oh. Well…what now? _Naruto leaned his head against the back of his seat and closed his eyes. _Sleep._

* * *

Naruto regained consciousness as he felt the bus slowing down. _Warm, so warm.._ He was so comfortable that he didn't wish to open his eyes, but he figured that he should when he heard and felt the flash of a camera go off. He opened one eye, and then the other, but all he saw was darkness. _Am I dreaming? I really thought I opened my eyes.._Naruto then closed his eyes and opened them again, receiving the safe effect as before. Then it hit him. The same way that a bus does when you're standing in the middle of the street. _Uh-oh._ Casting his senses around, he realized that the warm feeling on his head must have been Sasuke's head on top of his.Naruto lifted his head up carefully and realized that the darkness that he was staring into was Sasuke's shoulder. _Shit, shit, shit. _Naruto quickly looked around for whoever took the picture, but found no one. In the seat in front of him, Kiba was asleep, and he couldn't exactly tell what Shino was doing, via the sunglasses. After examining the scene in front of him, he realized that he hadn't seen if Sasuke had been awake or not. He slowly peeked back to Sasuke, but couldn't see whether Sasuke was dreaming or in reality; _his damn hair is covering his eyes!_. Naruto continued to look at Sasuke and then laughed a little inside. His head was leaning far to the right, where Naruto's head had been seconds before. Naruto sighed a breath of relief. _He's asleep. _

Seconds later, the packed bus pulled into a small convenience station to allow the band to both empty and fill up. Kakashi was explaining what was going to take place as Sasuke woke up. _Play it stealthy, Naruto. _Sasuke sat up a bit and looked at Naruto, and then at Kakashi up at the front of the bus. _You're a ninja, Uzamaki, you're a ninja. _

"That's about it. You guys have around fifteen minutes to take a leak, buy some junkies, and get back on this bus. See you then." With that, Kakashi walked off of the bus, shortly followed by Chouji, Lee, Gaara, and the others. Naruto stood up and followed the line, with Sasuke behind him. Whilst everyone else in the group was talking, Naruto and Sasuke kept in silence as they walked into the gas station. Naruto looked back at Sasuke. _He doesn't look particularly pissed off._ Still, he had to wonder. _When did I fall asleep on Sasuke, and did he sleep on me willingly, or accidentally?_

Naruto pushed through the doors of the small building and stepped onto the 'little mats that soak up snow and water from when people drag it in on their shoes.' Not really sure what he wanted to eat, he just shuffled around the store for a couple minutes, wandering around. Naruto saw a clock on the wall, and measured the time. _I was asleep on Sasuke's shoulder for TWO HOURS! _Naruto tried to hold back a scream, and continued walking.

After five minutes of wondering aimlessly around the store, Naruto decided to settle upon a drink and pre-made sandwich. It was simple, but it worked. Naruto walked down an aisle, heading towards the cash register. _I don't think I'm very hungry anymore, anyway. _Eager to just get back onto the bus, he turned the corner abruptly, running smack into the back of what looked like Sasuke, knocking down both of them.

"Sorry", he managed to mutter, before scrambling to find his stuff and suppress the irritating warm feeling that had picked _such a great moment to show up_ upon his cheeks, Naruto thought, at the same time. He looked around for his drink, but didn't find it.

"Hey, are you looking for this?", Sasuke asked as he interrupted Naruto's panicking. Naruto took his eyes off of the ground, peering up at Sasuke, who had stood up already. –And was holding his bottle of water, that Naruto suddenly felt _very _much like drinking. Naruto picked himself up from the ground, and stood up straight. _Remember, you're a ninja…right? _

Naruto was about to open his mouth and say something when Sasuke just gave him an odd look and handed him his water. _Smooth, freak him out, why don't you? _Sasuke then walked out of the store, having bought his necessities already. Naruto stood in line behind Shikamaru, who looked almost as keen to get back onto the bus as Naruto felt. In front of Shikamaru, Neji was finishing up with paying for whatever he bought. _Next…_

Naruto remained silent while Shikamaru was up front. He nervously tapped his fingers against the water bottle, more out of habit, than anything. _What's going on with me?_ The lady at the front counter rang Shikamaru's second item. _This is Sasuke. The guy I practice with all the time, the guy that always seems to be a step ahead, somehow. Why am I suddenly getting all nervous around him? _Shikamaru, having paid and all that other stuff, took himself back to the bus.

"Did you find everything you needed?", the minimum wage paid woman asked Naruto, being the second person to interrupt his thoughts that day.

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

"Oh, that's great!". She scanned his sandwich. _Slowly. _"Wow, I love these sandwiches, they're great, huh? I had one this morning and-oh, and you got water, too? Man, you're pretty healthy! Did you see the young man with the red marks on his cheeks? He just got a bunch of jerky-that's not healthy, you know?-but you seem to be eating right, like my boys, my boys always eat well. Good for you, I'm glad th-."

Naruto, annoyed enough to actually say something, interrupted "Yeah, thanks. Our bus is leaving now, bye!".-And with that said, he grabbed his receipt, bag, and got himself out of the small gas station as fast as his feet would carry him. Since he was the last person out, his bus probably _was _going to leave soon, so he kept up the pace in which he had been walking in before. Naruto walked over to the side of the building, glad to see that the bus was still there. In fact, most of the bus's occupants were busy using the remainders of last winter's snow for entertainment purposes. Entertainment purposes being snowballs and white washes. Naruto looked at the scene as he was reaching it, and winced. _Ouch. Courtesy of Kiba,Lee's going to be picking dirty snow out of his pants for a while._ He surveyed the area, relieved to find Sasuke leaning against a wall with Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino. _If I get the window seat, I don't have to worry about falling asleep on Sasuke. Problem solved! _Naruto reached the bus, managing to avoid the heaps of snow and invites being thrown at him by Kankuro, Kiba, Lee, and Chouji. Smiling, Naruto stepped onto the bus, passing Gaara, whom was sitting in his seat, staring at the situation that Naruto had just avoided. He gave Gaara a slight nod, and proceeded to the back of the bus.

Sitting down, Naruto opened his sandwich and began to eat. He looked out of the window on the other side of the bus, watching the snowball fight start to die down. He was mainly watching Kiba, but out of the corner of his vision, he could still see Sasuke, leaning against the wall holding his plastic bag of _whatever he bought. _Naruto crumbled up the sandwich wrapper, having taken the last bite. _I don't know what happened back in the store, or on the bus, but I'm fine now. No more Sasuke, because for now it's all about me. _Naruto set his bag on the ground, and reached into his pocket for his small _but working _mp3 player. He clicked onto his favorite playlist, where the majority of the songs were filled with famous trumpet solos. He allowed himself to slouch back into the bus seat, and turned his head towards the window on his side of the bus, listening intently.

Minutes passed, filled with the entering of the rest of the group, burps that interrupted Naruto's airwaves, and the slight move of the seat as Sasuke sat beside him. Naruto continued looking out of the window as the bus started up, and then watched as the scenery passed. He then crossed his arms. _It'll be a cold day in hell when I let something like this stop me from getting what I want. _

A/N Wittle Naweeto is in denial, isn't he? nods I'm sorry that this chappie is so short and pathetic, I've been busy, but I wanted to atleast get something out for the world to read. (that, and I bit of writers block.. . ) With that, I'll be back with the next one…annd…er…bye!

--And pleeeasse Read and Rate! I appreciate it bunches! Give me your thoughts. If you thought Naruto was a whining little bitch, tell me.


	3. Stone cold, sleepofthedead conked out

_Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed the prior chapters, I appreciate it much! _

* * *

_Ten minutes? _He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes had passed. Sasuke stared into the back of the seat in front of him. _It's funny how slowly such a small amount of time can pass. _Sasuke stared at the etches in the seat, trying to depict the markings into something. After figuring that he must have gotten the most boring back of a seat in the whole bus, he decided to go through all the songs he could think of while playing 'air guitar'. Whilst doing this, he didn't even bother to look at Naruto. He hadn't moved or said anything to him since they had knocked into each other in the gas station store. _In fact, he's acting pretty wigged out. _Sasuke thought back to the first part of the bus ride.

He had been fairly immersed inside his music, letting himself wind down a bit. He knew that once he got to Fairbanks, it would be all business, all the time. –So he was allowing himself to make the best of the relaxation time that he actually had. Well, halfway down the highway, 'lo and behold he feels something hit his shoulder. _And stay. _Already knowing what was probably on his shoulder, he had turned his head carefully and slowly peered to his right to see Naruto conked out on his shoulder. _Stone cold, sleep-of-the-dead _conked out. The thought of shoving him off of his shoulder and hitting him flashed across his mind, but looking at the peaceful expression on Naruto's face (at least the part that wasn't already absorbed into his shoulder) he had opted not to. –_Not because he was cute or anything, but because I might as well take this time to relax like I wanted to, instead of spending the time arguing with a thick-headed trumpet player. _

After that, he wasn't quite sure what had happened. He remembered waking up with his head leaning _way _too close to Naruto's side of the seat for comfort, leaving him to wake up with a nice kink in his neck, by the way. _And, _Naruto wasn't on his shoulder and was awake when he woke up. _Not good news. _Considering the stupid way that Naruto was acting, there were really only two theories that were acceptable to figuring out the situation; 1. Naruto had waken up on Sasuke's shoulder, and freaked out. Or 2. Since his head was leaning so far, he had fallen asleep somehow and leaned his head on Naruto's (still on his shoulder) and Naruto had woken up, pulled his head out, and freaked out. _Either way, life sucks, and he's freaking out. _Sasuke stopped his air guitar, having figured out why Naruto was acting like a spaz. _He's with reason, too, I guess. _

About a minute passed, in which somewhere in the middle of it, Sasuke became bored of staring at the back of the seat again, and began 'air guitaring' once more. Whilst doing so, he looked around the bus, trying to see if there was anything better to do. Since they didn't have the 'pimp bus', as Kiba had put it, there really was _nothing_ to do. No movies, and no…well, room. _As if that wasn't obvious. _In the seat in front of him, Kiba was actually being quiet, while Shino did, well, whatever Shino did. In the seat across the pair, Neji and Shikamaru were engaging in some type of card game, while ahead of them, Gaara was looking out the window, and Kankuro was talking to Lee and Chouji. He didn't care to see what they were talking about, nor did he really care for them. It wasn't as if he didn't know them, they were in band with him, but he was usually so absorbed into being intent on his guitar playing, that he didn't take any time to make friends with people. Most of the human contact he got in school was of Neji and Naruto, whom he found fairly tolerable. Sure, Naruto was hyperactive and loud mouthed sometimes, but when he quieted down, he had some really good ideas. If those ideas could get him any further in his skills, why not wait a little sometimes to hear them?

Sasuke slouched a bit in his side of the seat while 'air guitaring', trying to suppress a small smile that was threatening to appear on his face. _If he ever says anything to me again, the poor nervous wreck. _He himself didn't find the huge problem in leaning on one's shoulder. He wasn't exactly the type of guy to be rumored for his love of touch or space and air violation, but he didn't exactly find huge problems within it, if he actually knew the person. –Which he did. _So, problem solved. _

"Why do you always do that, is it a nervous habit?" Sasuke turned his head to Naruto, who was still turned towards the window. _Even though he's asking me a question, rude little bugger. _

"Do what?", he asked. He watched Naruto let out a small, exasperated sigh as he turned from the window to face Sasuke.

"Act like you're playing your guitar. You do it constantly, you know."

Sasuke looked down at his hands, which were now resting in his lap, thinking for a moment. _Wow, I guess I do do that a lot. Is it a nervous habit? _He thought about it some more, going through his every day situations. He looked at Naruto. "Yeah, I guess it is a bit of a nervous habit. More than anything, I do it to practice, though. I'm sure of all people can understand that."

Naruto, apparently satisfied with his reply, just kind of nodded, and turned back to the window. Sasuke, almost as exasperated as Naruto had obviously been seconds ago, slouched into his seat deeper. _Since when does this guy just 'nod silently?'. I mean, God, has the guy had NO human contact in his life? Hasn't he at least watched movies or something, does he live in a hole?_ _He fell asleep, I won't condemn him for it! _After a, well, uncharacteristic spazzing inside of his head, Sasuke decided to just lean against the seat in front of him and go to sleep. What else better was there for him to do? _I hate road trips. _

* * *

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke in disbelief, whom was leaning against the back of the seat in front of them, sleeping, yet again. _As if he didn't sleep enough before. _He glanced at the clock on his mp3 player. _We've been traveling for about four hours now, we should be getting there in about 3 more or so. _Naruto turned off his music and almost danced. _That means we're over half-way through. _He was surprised that he had spent four hours without talking, or really doing much of anything, for the matter. The first two were spent sleeping, and the two that he had just spent were lived inside his world of trumpets and jazz inside his headphones. _Which is actually pretty sad, considering the stories of past bus trips that I've heard. Yeah, we're pitiful, actually. I've got to start something up. _Naruto poked his head over the seat, checking for the energy levels of his band mates. He wasn't too impressed. _Apparently sleeping is the activity of the day, and I just missed it. _He looked harder at Gaara, who never slept. Really, this guy was like a walking zombie. _I wonder how much caffeine he drinks…_Even he was closing his eyes, at least giving sleep or some form of rest a fair attempt.

Naruto stood up. (at least, as much as he could on such a small bus) _This is pathetic. We're the BAND kids! We don't sleep, we don't rest, _he glanced at Kiba and Shino, _and we definantly don't cuddle! _He paused his thoughts for a moment. _And for future reference, we don't spoon, either. _Naruto looked towards the very front of the bus where Kakashi was driving. -Driving rather lazily. _That goes for him more than anyone else on this bus. _He took one final sweep of the bus, still finding nothing but sleeping (or near it) bodies. _This isn't right. _With all fierceness he could manage standing halfway up in the back of the bus with his head squished against the ceiling of the bus, he spat out a question:

"What the _hell_ is wrong with everyone?".

* * *

**Read and Rate, please!**

**A**uthor's **N**otes.

This is the point where you stop reading, unless you actually prefer to listen (ok, read) my babbles and ramblings. (which really aren't that long, but I'm sure could be shorter) Yeah. A bit short. But I've figured that if I've reached at least 1k words, I'm doing my job here. (and this small bit was out quick, even tho my brain is a bit sapped) Oi, sorry. I wonder what's gonna happen to Naruto and his big mouth? gasp


	4. Those Mad Lib Blues

Thanks oodles of noodles for all of the reviews I've gotten, everyone! It's oh-so-well appreciated. I hope you like cookies.

Aaannnnnd, back to the smut fic. (ha, you wish.) Actually, I could do that in later chapters…hmm…

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with everyone?".

……………………………………………

……………………………………………………….

……………………………..

………

…(a/n feels like a email forward, huh? scroll..keep scrolling...almost there...)

Naruto looked around the bus. _Absolutely no effect. No effect what so ever. _Sure, Kiba moved a bit, Gaara opened one eye, Sasuke glared, Neji looked through him, but after that, they all just continued on what they had been doing before; _absolutely nothing._ _Am I really that insignificant to this group of people? _Naruto sighed, realizing that other than sitting down and shutting up, he could either try again and get something thrown at him (like a fist) or try seeing what was 'up' in Kakashi's world at the front of the bus. Opting for the second option, he climbed behind Sasuke (who was leaning against the back Shino and Kiba's seat) and made his way up to Kakashi. This didn't take too long, considering the size of the bus.

Kakashi looked to his right. "Sup, Naruto?"

Naruto sat down on one of the bus steps, making sure not to trip in the process. "I'm bored, that's what's up." He looked up at Kakashi, who while driving, expression was unreadable. "This is a band trip, you know? Aren't we all supposed to be singing, and playing pranks, and being loud, noisy high schoolers?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto, who seemed, well, distressed. "Yes…but isn't a change nice, every once in a while?"

Naruto stared at Kakashi in disbelief. "Sure, just not when it's MY year for the trip. What's the fun if everyone is just sleeping?", he said, answering a question with a question.

To which Kakashi just replied to a question with yet another question; "You can sleep with people, what else?"

At this point, Naruto just, well, lost it. _What the HELL does he mean? Does this old crack realize that this bus is full of a bunch of GUYS! I mean, what the hell, man? _Naruto shook his head. _Great, this is just great, without already bringing up the point that I cuddled with Sasuke (which remember, band geeks DON'T do!) which I guess my teacher, of all people, finds O.K.! _

Naruto ripped himself from his thoughts, and opened his mouth. "I'll die first, that's what else!" With that, he stood up shakily, and made his way back to his former spot on the bus. _Crazy ol' geezer. _(a/n, which doesn't say much, considering we all know what Kakashi looks like)

When Naruto turned to edge his way back into the seat somehow, he saw that he wasn't going to. Why? –Because Sasuke had already taken care of filling the empty space that Naruto had left by fully lying down in the seat. (Or at least as much as it would allow with his legs curled up) Naruto mentally cursed. _Well, shit. That's great. Not that I particularly enjoyed sitting with him, but there isn't really anywhere else to sit on this bus. _He thought of waking him up, but when he remembered the glare he had been given when he had woken Sasuke up a while ago, he again opted for another path. This path involved sitting in aisle. On the ground. The ground that was wet, via the wonderful snow that the guys had tracked in at their last gas stop.

Once situated upon the lovely wet bottom of the bus, Naruto once again realized that he had completely nothing to do. _Great band trip, this is. _He looked around the small area that made up the back of the bus, finding a small mad lib book, of all things. Figuring _why not, _he picked it up and opened the first page. _Nothing. _He flipped through the book, finding it completely blank. With nothing else to do, he reached into his pocket, bringing out a pencil. _Let's mad lib, kids. _

Naruto went through the story, carefully trying to fill in the blanks without reading the sentences.

One day, I was on a noun with a bunch of my noun. Once we got to our hotel noun, my closest friend (name) placed his noun on my body part and verb past tense me by the noun. He told me that my noun were adjective, and that we wouldn't need a adjective time. After that, our group went down to the pool, where we . I couldn't tell whether I was having noun or not until (name) came up and past tense verb me in the pool. After that, I knew the vacation was going to be adjective. The main highlight of the vacation was past tense verb (name)'s noun. I wish I could do that number times again. I will never forget my adjective vacation with my friends.

Naruto took what basically first came to his mind while he was filling out the mad lib. Some is his nouns included things that surrounded him, while some of his verbs included what he would rather be doing at the moment. After filling out the last adjective, he silently read the mad lib.

_One day, I was on a trip with a bunch of my people. Once we got to our hotel box, my closest friend Sasuke placed his_ _hand on my_ _hip and jumped me by the food. He told me that my pants were loose, and that we wouldn't need a long time. After that, our group went down to the pool, where we played. I couldn't tell whether I was having fun or not until Kiba came up and de-pantsed me in the pool. After that, I knew the vacation was going to be tasty. The main highlight of the vacation was seeing Sasuke's boxers. I wish I could do that 99,888,182 times again. I will never forget my sexy (Naruto threw that one in for fun) vacation with my friends. _

By the end of reading the horrific paragraph, Naruto's countenance had morphed from a slight tan to the pinkest shade that Hello Kitties could legally be made in. He read through it again, noticing that certain phrases stuck out more than other. Jumped me……tasty….seeing Sasuke's boxers 99,888,182 times….sexy..Naruto just dropped the book onto this lap. _That's the last time I do one of those. _He continued to stare at it, while the words looked up at him accusingly. _No, really, no more. _He looked at the bottom of the page. _Where do they make these things, anyway? _© China, he read. _Remind me not to go there. Ever. _

"What are you looking at, loser?", an all too familiar and recognizable voice to Naruto's left asked. _Well, look, Sleeping Beauty is awake,_ Naruto thought.

"Nothing," he said, reaching for the book in an attempt to keep Sasuke from having to experience what he had just gone through. Sasuke, not to be denied of what he wanted, quickly reached down into Naruto's lap, grabbing the small book faster than Naruto would have guessed he could. _Hey, hey, watch what you're reaching for down there, you could hurt somebody. _Naruto, not taking the time to realize what he had just thought up in his mind, started to agonize as Sasuke sat up in the seat, sat cross legged facing Naruto in the aisle, and continued on in his actions to begin reading the mad lib that Naruto had had in his possession only moments before. _Well, shit again. Big shit. _

Naruto watched as Sasuke read through the paragraph, his eyes reading the same all the while, in Naruto's eyes. Inside, Naruto prepared for the worst. _How could an innocent friggin' mad lib, of all things, lead to THIS? He's going to think I'm having some sick fantasies about him. _Sasuke looked up from the mad lib, and……………………..

* * *

Read it. (pwz?)

Mwuuuaahhahahahahah! Cliff hanger, punks. Read Jazzbanks, Chapter 5 to see Sasuke's reaction to Naruto's lovely little pervy (of course, unintentionally, poor Naru) mad lib. This is only 1,300 some odd words, I usually prefer to write atleast 2,500, but if I do only 1,300 or so for each chapter, I can get these out much quicker to you guys. (to better spread my pervy thoughts to the world.)

So R&R, because you know you love it. (and your comments tend to be food for the soul to a bored teenage girl) See you next time. I feel like I'm on my own talk show. That'd be cool, wouldn't it? I'd call it something like "Sasunaru for the yaoi soul". :P and what's the weather today….? "it's partly shounen-ai with a chance of yaoi." :walks off, rambling:


	5. Dirty Clothes and Dust Bunnies

Thank you's to all of my reviewers and watchers out there, it's uber appreciated!

Oh yeah, I don't own Naruto. If I did, they'd be in band class. :P

Now, go read…

* * *

Naruto watched as Sasuke read through the paragraph, his eyes reading the same all the while, in Naruto's eyes. Inside, Naruto prepared for the worst. _How could an innocent friggin' mad lib, of all things, lead to THIS? He's going to think I'm having some sick fantasies about him. _Sasuke looked up from the mad lib, and……………………..

Laughed. He just laughed. Of course, either way, to Naruto this was a bit odd. Take out all the mad lib details, and it was Sasuke laughing. –Which people didn't tend to hear often. Naruto almost forgot about this in the moment, but he wasn't _that _scatter brained. He continued to stare at Sasuke, who continued to let out a small giggle-like laugh. _Like he's trying to stifle himself, but can't. Ok, so he' s laughing, so what does this mean, exactly? _Sasuke continued to laugh for a couple seconds more, while Naruto continued waiting for something else to happen. –Which something did.

That something was Sasuke tearing out the sheet of paper that Naruto had written upon, folding it, and placing it into his pocket. After that action, he went on to catch Kiba's attention, showing him the book.

"Hey, look what Naruto found. This thing is awesome, try one."

Kiba looked up to see Sasuke thrusting a small book in his hands. "Ok, alright, but I don't have a pencil, man." Sasuke then looked back to Naruto, whom was still trying to figure out why the guy wasn't beating the crap out of him, just stared back with a 'dear in the headlights' look upon his face. Still staring at Sasuke, Naruto saw him mouth the word pencil, so he reached into his pocket and gave him one. Once Kiba was fully equipped with his book of mad libs, and pencil-fully complete with an eraser and all- Sasuke turned back to face Naruto. (a/n still sitting cross-legged, now tell me the kid doesn't have skills) –And from that point on, the hot action on the bus moved from sleeping to mad libbing in small bunches.

"Naruto…"-, Sasuke attempted before interruption by the blonde.

"Look, Sasuke, I didn't do it on purpose, really. Don't get the wrong idea from this, or from anything. I did a mad lib. Because everyone was sleeping, and you took the damn seat. Anyway, a mad lib. A mad lib with random words. If those random words happened to add up to certain, ah, actions, then that's not my fault, is it? No, it's not, so you have nothing to worry about. Before you freak out, I don't feel that way about you. You can just go back to sleep or whatever and forget about it."

Sasuke watched Naruto as he, well, freaked out. _Man, did he actually think out what he was going to say? I better not interrupt, he might bite me or something._ When he was finally done with his spiel of words, Sasuke nodded. _I'd rather not trigger a whole other bubble of babble from him right now…_ –So he spoke carefully. "Well, I'll go back to sleep if that's what you want me to do or whatever, but you can have back half of the seat this time around." And with that, he uncrossed his legs, and scooted further into the seat until he was situated close to the window as he was when the whole bus trip had began.

Naruto simply sat in the seat, not sure if he felt better on the wet ground, or next to Sasuke. _How has this trip gotten so increasingly worse so quick?_ He leaned back with his hands behind his head. _He barely even said anything…what could he possibly be thinking about this?_

* * *

The truth was, Sasuke hadn't first thought much at all when he read it. Sure, it was a bit odd, but like the head-on-shoulder-with-his-head-on-head-that-was-on-shoulder incident, he honestly didn't care much. It wasn't abnormal for Naruto to throw his name in the 'lib, they _were _best friends, after all. _–Or something like that. _Mostly, he just found it funny. He knew it wasn't Naruto's complete intention or fault, but he wondered slightly if he should be torturing him about these two incidents instead of letting them pass with the ease in which he had been. _After all, this is a band trip now, isn't it? _Sasuke almost snickered inside, allowing his mind to come up with different possible variations of driving poor Naruto crazy. _I could act weird, like him. That'd kill him. Or I could act perfectly normal, like nothing's happened. –But that would kill him, too. He'll wonder what's going on, either way. And what's the fun if the situation isn't completely in my hands? _Sasuke turned from the window and looked at Naruto, who looked back, but then immediately looked away. _Oh yes, I will _ _definitel__y have to come up with something more creative than that. _And as Sasuke watched the scenery pass as the small, packed bus got even closer to Fairbanks, thinking up a third and more creative plan was exactly what he did. 

* * *

After a much needed Bio study session with Neji, (Shikamaru and Naruto had traded seats for this) Naruto opened up his sketchbook and began to finish the picture that he had been working on out of boredom during school hours. It was a fairly extensive pencil drawing that featured his room along with all of his favorite things. He had drawn it with the intention of including every detail of his room in it-which he thought he had. He ducked his head over the picture, staring at it intently. My music stand? He looked to the corner of his room. _Check! My journal?…On the desk…check!_ Naruto searched around the picture for his favorite plushie. _Stuffed foxie?_ He looked at his bed. _Oh yeah, he's right where I left him, oops, I mean drew him. _Naruto looked back to visually searching the picture. _Then what could I possibly be missing? _He looked at his floor. _Ahh, dirty clothes. _–But after drawing them in, something else yet was still missing.

Sasuke turned from the window to see Naruto focused on a picture in his sketchbook, looking a little annoyed.

"What's wrong?", he asked.

Not taking his eyes from the picture, Naruto replied "I was pretty sure that I had everything, but I feel like I'm still missing something somehow."

Sasuke glanced down from Naruto (which actually wasn't too far, considering how close Naruto had his face to the page) to the picture, but couldn't see enough from where he was from. "Can I see it?"

"Sure", Naruto nodded as he handed his book to Sasuke. Sasuke took the sketchbook into his hands and held the picture up. It was a drawing of a room, most likely from the door's view, with the smallest and most intricate details in everything that was in there. He glanced at the ground in the picture. _Right down to the dirty clothes and dust bunnies, huh? _

"This is pretty cool, Naruto, but what room is this?", he asked, already knowing the answer to his own question.

"It's mine, actually", he answered.

_Perfect. _Sasuke reached for the pencil that he always kept with him. "I figured. Anyway, I think I know what you're missing, do you mind if I give drawing it in a try?"

Naruto shrugged. "sure, I'm too frustrated to draw any more on it right now as it is." –And with that said, Sasuke began sketching in his addition to the picture with an occasional "No peaking." Spoken towards Naruto. Almost finished with his own interpretation of what Naruto was missing in his room, Sasuke was busy drawing in the final details.

_Don't forget the little reflections of the light in the eyes.._

_Ah, I almost forgot to draw the nails in…_

Finally finished, (ok, it was only 2 minutes) Sasuke too a look at what he had drawn. _I do good work, If I can say so myself. _Finalizing his decision, he handed the book back to Naruto.

Sasuke waited for Naruto to look at the picture, more or less waiting for his reaction instead. When he heard a sharp intake of breath from his right side, he knew that what he had drawn had been seen. Sasuke almost grinned. Naruto was embarrassed about falling asleep on him, bumping into him in the gas station, writing an _interesting _mad lib about him, and now the picture that he held in his hands. Just as Sasuke had figured with the prior incidents, Naruto had a good reason to be uncomfortable with this one, too. After all, how often did one have the self-portrait of Sasuke Uchiha laid upon their bed?

Sasuke allowed the grin to appear on his face, but only for a brief second. _I guess that would be the first step…complete, huh? _

* * *

Evil Sasuke :gasp: What else is he going to do! (do I even know?)

Anyway, it's out a bit later than usual, I got blocked..a couple days in a row, blocked. But last night I was able to get the missing half that I needed out of me, so I'm happy for that. In the next chapter, we're getting off of the bus! That's right, we're reaching Fairbanks, baby! Read and Rate, please! I love it, and it sometimes feeds me more ideas. (which, by the way, if you have any, feel free to tell me about if you want included!) Wow, I'm using a lot of ! marks, huh? Must be my 11:12 AM hyperness.

Anyway, thanks for reading and all that stuff, R&R, and that's xBlackLuckx, outtie like my sissy's bellybutton.


	6. Their Points of Authority

Thank yous to all my reviewers for Chapter 5; Black Ice, Ookami Aya, Deserter, and Lae Lae. You guys rock.

I don't own Naruto, but pretty soon Sasuke will.

* * *

Naruto took his own sketchbook back into his hands and glanced down to see what Sasuke had added to his picture, what he thought Naruto was missing in his sanctuary. Laid out on his bed, in a least-to-say _interesting _manner, was Sasuke. His first thought was something among the lines of '_Does he want a sleepover?'_ –which was the interrupted and followed by the sudden realization of '_Oh my god.' _Naruto looked away from the picture, and into the seat in front of him. _Well, what the hell does this mean, Sasuke? _Naruto looked over the past events that had taken place. _I woke up on his shoulder, with his head on mine, I knocked him down, I accidentally did a dirty mad lib….and now this?_ Naruto stared at the deepest etch in the seat. _Alright, what's different in this situation versus the others? _The etch stared back. _This time, it is completely and his fault. And this time, he's definitely acting too cool. _–And as that thought was completed, to his left, Naruto heard the sound of Points of Authority by Linkin Park hit it's full volume potential from an iPod's production.

'_Forfeit the game before somebody else takes you out of the frame'. _Naruto moved on to a different etch, leaving the deeper one to do whatever etches do in peace. The music continued to blare.

'_You love the way I look at you while taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through. You take away if I give in. My life, my pride is broken.' _Not helping but to hear the lyrics, (with it being so loud), Naruto was led onto another thought. _Hey..his stupid song might have something. What if this is all some bigger game or something? _Bored with the etch, he moved on to yet another. _What if he's really just trying to wig me out, and all the guys are in on this? _Naruto backed up from the seat, still staring at it. After having backed away a bit, he noticed that the majority of some etches in one corner of the seat made a huge 'X'. _And what if they're all waiting for me to lose it? _He recalled the flash that he had heard and felt when he was on Sasuke's shoulder. _That proves it. This is just some big prank. Everything._ Naruto almost smiled, pleased with himself for having figured out the bigger scheme that was going on around him. _That's what he's waiting for, and that's why he drew this picture. Well, I've got bigger things to worry about, and this isn't getting in my path, no way. I'll bite. I'll play along, but not to their rules. I'll show them how the game is really played, they can't top me. _

Naruto turned to face Sasuke and tapped him softly on the shoulder, getting his attention from the music. Sasuke turned off his iPod. "What?".

"Nothing, I just thought that I should thank you for what you added to my picture, Sasuke. I really think that was what I was missing, and I feel so much better now." He smiled as sweetly as his conscious mind would allow under the circumstances. Then, knowing that to carry out his initial thoughts for his first try of revenge, he would have to do something drastic, so he forced his arms around the older boy beside him into an embrace.

* * *

Sasuke watched Naruto smile as he spoke. _Wait…what? He's thanking me? Great. Just great. Maybe I'll ju-_ His thoughts were cut off as Sasuke felt himself being pulled into Naruto's arms. _A hug. A nice hug. –But a hug from Naruto._ Sasuke pulled out of Naruto's grasp. "Ha, you're welcome, Naruto. I'm glad that you liked it." –And with that said, he turned back to his iPod, trying not to shiver. He pressed play, and immersed himself inside the world of My Chemical Romance's You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison. Sasuke went over the possibilities of what could be going through Naruto's head from the safety of his own. _Well, I guess he could like me, but even Naruto isn't dumb enough to just hug someone like that. Secondly, since when did he bat his eye lashes like that? No, I think he's definitely up to something. There's no way he actually feels that way, is he trying to get me back? –Wait, but that would mean he figured me out, wouldn't it? No, he wouldn't, but he must figure something's__going on, and that's why he did what he did, right? He wants to top me. _Sasuke pressed the 'next' button. _Well, I won't let that happen. He can't beat me at my own game, I'm an Uchiha._

After that moment of thought, Kakashi apparently decided to try out the bus's loud speak stystem.

_Scccccccreeeeeeeeeeeecccchhh. _Yup, it worked.

"Hey, bandies, we're about half an hour from our destination right now. Once we get to the hotel/apartment place, we'll unload our stuff and become situated with the environment that we'll be staying in. After, we are going to head back out to the local Fred Meyer for dinner and other needs. I know you guys are wondering, so I'll go ahead and read our room assignments."

"Yes, we have room assignments", Kakashi continued on.

Shikamaru leaned back in his seat. "This is so troublesome."

"Troublesome? You have no idea how troublesome it really is, Shikamaru. Like the bus, we had a bit of availability problems with our living arrangements. Don't worry, you aren't living in a box for the next couple days, but it's going to be a bit different there than what you were expecting. We're going to be a bit…closer than participated."

This time, Gaara spoke up. "What do you mean?".

Kakashi shook the paper in his right hand. "I mean that instead of having 3 apartments with 3 people in them each, (making 4 in one, because I exist) we have 2 apartments, one with 6 people, and one with 5. Since there are 2 bedrooms and 2 couches in each apartment, some of you guys are going to need to deal with bunking up. Yes, before you ask, that means sharing a bed. The rooms are fairly small, also, so sleeping on the floor isn't a big option for you. Deal with it."

Having that said, Kakashi squeaked the microphone off, and continued driving. Chouji leaned up behind Kakashi and tapped him on the shoulder. "Um, Kakashi, what about our room assignments?"

Kakashi looked in the bus's mirror at Chouji. "Oh, yeah, oops." Grabbing the microphone, (which to Sasuke's delight didn't screech this time) he spoke again. "I guess I'll just get this over with. In room 8, I will be sleeping in a bedroom, Lee and Chouji will be taking 1 couch each in the living room, and Neji and Shikamaru will share the other room." Kakashi let the group have a couple seconds to 'digest' the information before speaking again. "In room 7, Kiba and Shino will take a room, Sasuke and Naruto will take a room, and Gaara and Kankuro will each get a couch. No negotiating, by the way."

Sasuke sat still as Kakashi finished his ramblings on the microphone, only half listening to them. _We're in the same apartment. We're rooming together. We're sleeping the in the same bed. _He looked to his right at Naruto, whom was just staring forward listening to Kakashi. _Perfect._

* * *

Authie's Notes:

Yeah, I know, this chapter is the craps. I got a bit stuck, but I still felt like getting it out! I'm sorry if it's the sucks! Please Read and Rate, It's appreciated so much, and inspires me to get the next one out faster. They are getting to Fairbanks the next chapter, hellz yeah. What a long ride, like 10k words. lol. Cya!


	7. Chocolate Lilies and Strawberries

Major pimpage to my CH6 reviewers: Scoodoo58, Lily23, Deserter, , BlueInsomniac09, and Endless Snow. You guys rock.

I don't own Naruto……… :walks off crying:

Anyway, go R&R to the good stuff.

* * *

Naruto stepped off of the bus with his trumpet and belongings in hand. _It's about time we got off that loony box. I thought I'd lose it, crammed up with that weirdo, thank God we're here._ He looked at the building in front of him, the one that they would be staying in. It was in the middle of a bunch of buildings identical to it, and the only thing that distinguished this one from the rest was a blue plastic coat hanger in the dirt by one of the bushes, and the name of the building itself; Chocolate Lily. (1) All of the separate housing buildings were named after Alaska wildflowers, such as the Forget-Me-Not, or Fireweed. _Why did they even name a building after a flower like that?_ Naruto mentally shrugged to himself and walked up the building's porch steps. They were columns that mimicked the Roman period on the concrete porch that made Naruto think that maybe the Chocolate Lily wouldn't be so bad after all. He followed Shino through the door and looked around the room. Sure, there was a nice stained glass window halfway up the wall, but other than that, it was 3 floors of cheap blue carpeting, brown doors, and stairs. Lots of stairs. Lots of stairs to carry things up. Lots of stairs that Shino and everyone in front of him were already climbing. Lots of stairs that apparently led to rooms 7, 8, and 9. Lots of stairs that-

"Oi, Naruto, would you go, already? I'm already getting tired of holding all this, and we haven't even gone up the first set of stairs yet."

Naruto looked back at Sasuke, whom was behind him. "Yeah, sorry." Lots of stairs with none other than the emo queen behind him. He reached the second set of stairs. _Stupid stairs._ After climbing the third set of stairs, Naruto waited as Kankuro (Kakashi had given him the key card to their room) opened the door.

He stepped through the door after Kiba, anxious and excited to finally see where he'd be staying for the next couple days. Through the doorway and to his immediate right was a walk through kitchen with a small table for 4 on the other side. As he walked forward, the main living room came into view. There was a 3 cushion couch in the center, facing a big screen tv with a coffee table in the middle of the two. Against the right wall was a small loveseat couch that was surrounded by two little desks with lamps and a phone. Aside from a bigger desk on the left wall, the door way wall, there was a-

"Hellz yeah, we've got a deck," Kiba shouted. Kiba and Kankuro then rushed over to a door in the back wall of the room and opened it, revealing a deck that overlooked the rest of the hotel/apartment complex. –It wasn't a beautiful view or anything, but what teenage kid wouldn't be excited about a deck that goes around the whole building? _Apparently Sasuke_, Naruto thought, as he saw Sasuke enter the bedroom and bathroom hallway to explore. Naruto took one more glance at the deck as Kiba, Kankuro, and Shino were running around on it, and decided to go check out the rest of the mini-house.

Down the hall, the first room on the left was a bedroom. It was pretty good sized with one bed, a dresser and TV, and a small closet. He then went across the hallway to the bathroom. _Not much to see here. _There wasn't a Jacuzzi tub, no party shower, not even marble tiles. It was just a normal hotel bathroom. _That's rather disappointing._ Done with the bathroom, he moved on to the last room, where he assumed Sasuke was. He walked through the door and into the tiny room to see Sasuke already unloading some of the contents of his bigger bag.

"I guess you've claimed this as our room then, haven't you?" Sasuke didn't say anything, but Naruto concluded that maybe it was better if he didn't. He looked around. This room was different than the prior one he had seen. Instead of a tv, there was a large mirror and a huge walk-in closet with shelves and hangers, which to Naruto's dismay, was the reason why their room was much smaller than Kiba and Shino's. _That's just great, Kakashi. Friggin wonderful. _He walked from the inside of the closet to the opening of room, looking around. _Maybe if I push the bed over to that wall a bit, I can sleep on the floor. _But after visualizing the situation, he realized that wouldn't work; it would block the closet. Visualizing moving the bed to a different wall, he realized that the door would be blocked. After two more ideas of ways to situate the bed so he could sleep on the floor, he realized that it wasn't going to work. _Fine._ He looked at the closet that Sasuke was now putting his clothes into. _I'll just sleep in there, it's perfect._

Naruto walked back out to the living room, grabbed his bags, and dropped them on the bed in his and Sasuke's room. Not bothering to put anything away, he walked out of the apartment and into Kakashi's. "Hey, Kakashi, can we leave to go to that one store now? I'm ready to go." He peeked his head around the corner. No answer. _Pfft. Thanks a lot. _Not bothering to knock, he walked inside to see what their apartment was like compared to his. It wasn't that exciting, really. It was exactly opposite his, except it had bigger rooms._ What's up with that, huh?_ In the living room, Chouji and Lee were unloading all of their clothes and stuff into a desk, Kakashi was in the kitchen putting what looked like _icecream?_ in the freezer (_doesn't he know it's kinda….dead after a long ride like that?)_ while Neji and Shikamaru were in their room adjusting to their new environment. _Forget this._

* * *

After 20 minutes of waiting in the hall way, 10 minutes of a bus ride spent sitting next to Kiba (thank God), half an hour wandering around in the Fred Meyers trying to decide what to buy, 2 minutes spent figuring out the U-Scans at the Fred Meyers, having decided what to buy, only to find out it was nearly impossible to actually buy what he wanted, 30 seconds of trying to find the bus in the parking lot, 11 minutes back to the hotel (they were stopped at a traffic light), 3 minutes of unloading what he had gotten into the kitchen's cabinets and fridge, half an hour in all of eating and preparing some of the food he had bought, Naruto sat on the couch with Kiba and Kankuro annoyed, while watching CSI:Miami.

During his time given in Fred Meyers, he had come upon many intersting things, such as Kakashi buying a thong (this of which he just walked away) and a good portion of his fellow 'band-aids' (who's names will not be mentioned) flipping through a certain section of the magazine aisle. Finally, he had bought a couple armfuls of ramen, assorted bottles of tea and water, a couple junk food items, and a white dress shirt. (he had forgotten to bring one from home). This, however, was not the reason why he was currently sitting on the couch annoyed and slightly pissed off. Oh, no. He was loosing his cool because none other than Sasuke had spent over 45 minutes in the bathroom taking what was supposed to be a "quick shower!".

Since he honestly could care less about what _really_ happened to the 16-year-old virgin cheer leader from Louisiana on the side of the road at 2:06 AM on a school night, he stood up and walked down the hall to the closed bathroom door. _Honestly, how much time does it take to throw some crap on your hair and body, wash it out, and put some clothes on?_ Having had enough, he started knocking on the door.

"Hey, Sasuke, are you almost done? I really need to get in there, and it's already 10:40, you know Kakashi said we have to be in lights-out mode by 11:00, what's taking so long!" He continued to knock a bit, but received nothing from Sasuke's side of the door. He stopped knocking, crossed his arms, and turned to face the wall opposite of the bathroom. _Fine, I'll just wait out here until you're done. Bastard. What the heck is he doing in there, anyway?_

After 6 minutes of staring at the wall, he heard the door behind him open. Naruto uncrossed his arms and turned around quickly. "Hey, do you even kno-", he managed to blurt out before he was cut off by a strong scent of strawberries and warm sensation on his lips. His mind and senses exploded, but not enough to stop him from realizing what was going on. _I'm kissing Sasuke._ _Wait, no, Sasuke's kissing me._ He opened his mouth to allow room to speak, only to have that space replaced by what could only be Sasuke's tongue. _Oh shit. I mean, really. Shit. Who'd know that opening your mouth was an invitation to be violated further? _He pulled away from Sasuke and stepped back until he was against the wall that he had been staring at only seconds ago.

"What the hell, Sasuke?" He glared at Sasuke, whom just stood there in his own blue towel that he had brought from home, staring back at Naruto. "What the hell was that, huh?" Naruto demanded an answer.

Sasuke looked down at the blonde. "What do you mean? You're the one who walked up to me like that, talk about an invasion of space to begin with."

Naruto stood up taller, infuriated. "Well, I never would have even had the chance to do that if you hadn't taken so long in the damn shower, bastard. If it was such an invasion of space, then why did you stick your nasty tongue in my mouth!"

"You opened your mouth. It's not my fault if you're stupid and can't read what signals you're giving off. The shower's all yours, have fun." With that, he walked into their bedroom, closed the door, and proceeded in what Naruto hoped was getting dressed. Naruto shook with anger and shock. Grabbing his bag from the hallway, he walked into the strawberry-scented bathroom and closed the door. Dropping his bag on the floor, he slouched down on a wall until he was sitting on the ground. _I'm giving off signals? _He sighed. _Stupid Sasuke and his strawberries. _

* * *

(1) A Chocolate Lily is a flower you mostly see in Alaska. It's a dark brown colored flower, and well, smells like doody. Trust me, I've seen these while hiking, myself.

Author's Notiez:

This was an interesting chapter to write..:sweatdrop:. First off, whats better than an emo boy that smells like strawberries, huh? Anyway, please read and rate, and so Jazzbanks begins. Mwwuaahahaha. Who won this round, Naruto or Sasuke?


	8. Moocows and a pot of ramen

Thank you's and cookies to all my reviewers and loyal 'waiters' that kept telling me to write; lily23, Kristen, Deserter, flame gazer, KHfan4ever9, Heosic-chan, Shampoo-chan13, Nekozuki14, Missalissa, and Sexydemon9. Thanks guys! Also..sorry I took so long. :3

* * *

Naruto looked in the mirror while rubbing a towel on his head. _Signals…am I really sending signals? How much does a signal divide this from a game and reality?_ He stopped drying his hair and used the towel to wipe away the fog on the mirror. _How much does a signal determine the point at which lines are crossed? _Naruto slipped on his favorite pair of boxers. _Or maybe…instead of lines…it's about who breaks first. Who's willing to step away from their pride to end it, this is all about who's better, isn't it? _A shirt was added to top his boxers. He gathered up his bag and wet towel. _You know what, Sasuke? _He opened the bathroom door, stepped into the hallway and then walked into his and Sasuke's bedroom. He stood for a second to allow his eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the room. Once adjusted, he saw that Sasuke had taken part of the bed and seemed to be sleeping. He lightly considered crawling into the bed to get him back, but if there was ever a moment in which sleeping in a closet seemed appealing, this one was it. So he then walked to the closet, opened the sliding door, and climbed in. _It's not over yet._

* * *

Naruto woke up to the sound of very, _very_ loud music."I'm safe here in my room. Unless I try to…" 

And very, _very_ loud singing. He opened his eyes and saw slits of light coming from the cracks in the closet doors. Managing to untangle himself from the extra blanket he had found in the closet the night before, he stood up, rubbed his eyes, and slid open the closet doors. He stumbled out, took a couple sluggish steps…

…and walked straight into the bed.

_Oh._ He stood for a couple seconds more, allowing his eyes to readjust to the sudden light.

After opening his eyes once more, he saw that no one was in the room. Since he honestly had no idea what was going on, he then opened the bedroom door and stepped into the hallway. To his right (in Kiba and Shino's room) he saw Kankuro and Kiba doing _God knows what _while singing very loudly to a Linkin Park song he thought he had heard Sasuke listen to at some prior point in time. To his left (in the bathroom) Shino and Gaara were brushing their teeth and such. The two rooms were literally opposite of each other in volume and conversation, but all occupants seemed content enough. Figuring that he might as well jump on the 'band wagon' (A/N lol, no pun intended..) he turned around and made his way back to the closet to find something to wear. After throwing on and old pair of jeans and black t-shirt that featured one of his favorite local bands _Black Luck_, he walked past the other two rooms and into the kitchen.

It was more of small hallway with counters, a stove, and refrigerator squeezed in it, but much more than he could have expected from staying at a high school instead. Taking out cup of ramen that he placed inside of the cabinets the night before, he searched for the only other thing he needed; a microwave. Finding none, he sighed in exasperation. _Well, that's just great .What now? _Since the only heating implement the hotel had provided them was the stove, Naruto searched through more cabinets for a decent pot. Just when he was about to give up, he found what he needed and more inside the oven.

Why anyone would put stuff there, he didn't understand, yet he graciously took out a medium-sized pot, filled it with hot water from the faucet, and place it on the already warm burner. He then turned to his cup of ramen. _Groooooowwwllll. _He had never cooked ramen in anything but a microwave before, but he figured that on a stove it would be similar. He unwrapped the little styro-foam cup holding his bricks of flavor and happiness, and dropped it into the (slowly) bubbling water. He watched as the cup floated back up in the water, disappointed. _I don't think it's supposed to float like that…_Naruto then grabbed a glass plate from the cabinet, placed it on trop of the ramen cup inside the bowl until it was submerged, and used a heavy cow statue he had found on the counter to hold it down. He then placed the pot's cover on top of said pot, and stepped back to admire his creative adaptations. _I think that'll work._

Deciding that the noodles could use a couple minutes to cook, Naruto walked into the living room to find Sasuke watching something on TV. He was sitting with his legs pulled up against his stomach while his arms were wrapped around them wearing black jeans and a gray hoodie with miscellaneous designs stitched into it. He barely acknowledged Naruto's entrance into the room, lifting his gaze from the TV only a second to see who had walked in. Naruto glanced at the TV to see what was on, but decided against Sasuke's tastes and walked over to the sliding door. He looked out; it was a sunny day, and snow was slowly dripping from the rood. He then opened the door, sat on the deck, and gazed out at his surroundings, lost in thoughts.

* * *

Sasuke was just getting into a random request show on FUSE when he first noticed it; the unmistakable scent of melted stryo-foam. He silently curse Naruto as he stood from the couch; _Who else could have screwed something up in the kitchen?_ He walked into the kitchen, seeing only a covered pot on the stove-top emitting steam. _How could that smell come from there? _He scanned the kitchen for anything else, but yet again, the pot was it. Considering that it was _Naruto_ who was making whatever _it_ was, Sasuke cut the odds and lifted the cover off of the pot. – To find a miniature cow on top of a plate. _Ok, I know this is Naruto and everything, but what the hell is this!_ Sasuke turned off the burner and searched around the kitchen's drawers until he found what he was looking for: a butter knife. He then slid the knife in between the edge of the pot and plate and lifted an edge of the plate out of the now only _slightly_ bubbling water. He then quickly grabbed the plate and set it on the counter, along with the cow. He glanced back into the vessel of water to see a cup of ramen, slightly melted. He sighed poured the entire contents of the pot into the stink, leaving the cup there. _I really, really should have figured. _

He looked at his watch, which read 7:41. _We're supposed to be walking down to the parking lot in one minute, and the spaz still hasn't had breakfast. _As soon as that thought was processed, he saw the rest of his mini-house's occupants head out the door and down the stairs. _Well, there's no time for ramen now, I'll just have to teach him later. _Wondering how Naruto had even managed to pull his latest 'stunt' off, Sasuke reached into his box of pop-tarts, grabbed his bag, and walked over to the deck where Naruto was still sitting.

"Oi, Naruto, we gotta go!"

Naruto turned around to see Sasuke holding a package of food and his bag, looking slightly irritated. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off.

"Don't talk now, just get your shoes on and go." He then walked over to the doorway were the majority of the shoes were kept, so Naruto picked himself up, walked over, and slid his shoes on.

Naruto stepped onto the already running bus, quickly walked to the back where Sasuke and his' seat was, and sat down on the inside of the seat. Sasuke then sat down, and the bus was put into motion.

* * *

AN:

I really, really wanted to write more on this. Sure, the word count is enough, but the content is just plain flat. I tried to write more on it, but got a little stuck. Due to ah…requests, I'm going to try to pick up on the chapter of Why is it Always the Rain! that I left off on. (that may prove difficult, but I'll try..ne?) So yeah. I'll try to stay updated, guys!


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